The Niners looked good, but I noticed they also made a lot of little mistakes of the nagging kind that look small now, but will very often magnify and kill a team in the playoffs. At the end of the first half, they repeatedly let the Steelers runners/receivers get out of bounds in the final two minutes, which a better offense or non-hobbled quarterback would have easily exploited and gotten points from that drive. They kicked all those field goals in the red zone, they were kinda dominating the game but with only a 6-0 lead to show for it -- that is just one play by an elite offense away from being 7-6, and TWO plays away from being 14-6 and done in the playoffs. The Saints and Packers in particular can BOTH score points in ridiculously fast 'drives' that last only ten, twenty, thirty seconds of clock, from any point on the field.

Alex Smith is okay, but I feel like he NEVER really makes something miraculous happen, a play that makes me say "WOW," like better QBs will do. He missed on a lot of passes that Drew, Eli, Aaron, Brady etc. would MAKE with ease, including some big TD or clutch passes that he didn't connect on, 3rd down conversions, drive-killers, etc. That key difference of having laser-like passing, and being able to place the ball a few micro inches here or there, in just the perfect spot. A lot of these little things with the Niners looked okay in a game like last night's, but they can suddenly become a really BIG DEAL in the playoffs.

Offense:
49ers are 29th overall in Passing
49ers are 9th overall in Rushing

Defense:
49ers are 21st overall against the pass
49ers are 1st overall against the run

Would love to see Drew and the Saints slice that defense up. They can stop our run ALL DAY LONG because our passing game is a CIRCUS!

I agree. With this caveat.

We all know how turnovers play into seasons
The 49ers are 1st in turnover ratio with +25 (that's monstrous)... Saints were only +11 in 2009. We have a -3 To ratio this season.

49ers have lost a total of 5 fumbles all season which is = to ours.
Smith has only had 5 interceptions all year= Brees has cleaned that up since week 9.

However their Defense has tallied up 21 interceptions. To our 11.
In order for those states you posted to shed hope we CAN NOT turn the ball over. If Drew get panicky as he can get some times or tries to force things those turnovers will absolutely kill us.

Smith has only had 5 interceptions all year= Brees has cleaned that up since week 9.

I know it seems a little counter-intuitive, but I think Smith's interceptions are low because he is not very accurate. In that Steelers game I saw a lot of balls sailing, way over people's heads, or hitting the ground early, or not going where anybody could catch them. Like I was talking about earlier, if you are skilled and gutsy with the ball, and are counting on your accuracy to deliver balls into a lot of tight coverage (typical Brees, Rodgers, Eli, Brady type throws) then you get intercepted more. If you're mostly hitting 8 yard clunker passes where the guy is right in front of you, unobstructed, facing you with his hands waiting in front of his numbers, like the 49ers seem to do, you will NOT throw a lot of interceptions. If you're throwing deep, or sidelines, or throwing accurately into tight spots, contested balls, attacking the coverage when going for big game-changing plays, you get more interceptions as a result.

I do agree, though, if Drew gets the jitters and throws a couple of boneheaded INTs early on, and gets that weird grimace on his face on the sidelines (the weird sweaty disheveled look like a wet dog, not the determined "I'm gonna win this" game face look), then it's going to be very tough for the Saints.